WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES

Proverbs 21.2
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES
"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart."

WE LIKE TO BE RIGHT. EVEN WHEN WE ARE shown to be wrong, we still like to be right. We have an in-built mechanism to justify ourselves. People who lose their temper justify their anger. People who cheat justify their dishonesty. When we do something wrong, we are ready with a dozen reasons to explain why it is really not our fault. If we were always right, there would be no sin left, except those committed by others.

Such a perception is of course an illusion. We are not always right. God knows. He weighs the heart (16.2; 21.2; 24.12). He knows our every thought and motive. We see what is done, but God sees why it is done. The picture is graphic. He puts us in his balances, and knows at once if our weight is short.

I remember the time when I was a student at Aberdeen University in Scotland. The library was fully computerized. To borrow a book, I had to hand the librarian my card. On it was an electronic strip. She would slide it through a machine, and immediately on the computer screen would appear the titles of all the books I had borrowed including any that was overdue. I recall that there was always a moment of apprehension on my part as she did that. I had so many of the library books in my possession that I was seldom sure if I had exceeded the number allowed or failed to return any overdue. I was afraid I might be weighed and found short!

God reads us as clearly as the computer read my library card. God sees through our hearts as surely as the computer saw through the walls of my study. We can hide nothing. To the Jewish mind, nothing could be as hidden from sight as sheol, the place of the dead. But Solomon says even that lies "open before the LORD — how much more the hearts of men" (15.11)!

Not only does the LORD weigh our heart, He tests it too. "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart" (17.3). While weighing is to determine if we are short, testing is to ensure the quality — as silver and gold are put through fire to purify them. One such trial for our hearts is praise: "A man is tested by the praise he receives" (27.21).

When we receive praise, we are commended for what people see in us. How easy it is for us to think that they see rightly! But God sees the motive behind the act. Praise is best graciously taken and promptly forgotten.

How does my heart weigh in God's balances?